VR-Zone x2900xt review

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: MadBoris

Originally posted by: apoppin
and nvidia driver issues are *noted elsewhere* ... nevermind how many fanboys you can get to say "no problem with nvidia drivers" in a useless poll
:roll:

Yeah, your Sapphire card makes you a real impartial judge on Nvidia drivers. :roll:

I have had an 8800 since shortly after release on XP and Vista. I've seen the growing pains first hand, they aren't as bad as all the little children at the schoolyard make it out to be. But it does seem the popular thing to complain about and sound cool at the schoolyard.

it's what i read ... and i read a LOT

i had a 7800GS OC and absolutely *loved* it ... a few months agp
--superb drivers ... very good IQ ... excellent price performance

all this was *noted* by "everyone else" ... so my "review" was 'in line" here in my thread.

and when i read tech sites and reviewers that complain - and have complained - about nvidia drivers and "issues"
--as well as friends that complain about their "issues" and the problems i note in STALKER ...
i tend to think the nvidiots are lying when they *no problems whatsoever*

that's all

 

[swtethan]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: MadBoris

Originally posted by: apoppin
and nvidia driver issues are *noted elsewhere* ... nevermind how many fanboys you can get to say "no problem with nvidia drivers" in a useless poll
:roll:

Yeah, your Sapphire card makes you a real impartial judge on Nvidia drivers. :roll:

I have had an 8800 since shortly after release on XP and Vista. I've seen the growing pains first hand, they aren't as bad as all the little children at the schoolyard make it out to be. But it does seem the popular thing to complain about and sound cool at the schoolyard.

it's what i read ... and i read a LOT

i had a 7800GS OC and absolutely *loved* it

superb drivers ... very good IQ ... excellent price performance

all this was *noted* by "everyone else"

and when i read tech sites and reviewers that complain about nvidia drivers i tend to think the nvidiots are lying when they *no problems*

you arent me, now are you? NO problems for 2 months. actually there was a problem with the fake fog in source, but that was fixed, didnt affect my game play.

 

[apoppin]

and you aren't me

what does that say?


and you appear to be part of the 'exception' ... rather than the rule

perhaps i would be much less forgiving of "issues" then you appear to be
:Q

no problems for 2 out of over 6 months .. that IS improvement
:roll:

 

[swtethan]

Originally posted by: apoppin
and you aren't me

what does that say?


and you appear to be part of the 'exception' ... rather than the rule

find my poll, look at the results

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: swtethan

Originally posted by: apoppin
and you aren't me

what does that say?


and you appear to be part of the 'exception' ... rather than the rule

find my poll, look at the results

asking nvidia GTX fans to say there are problems with their drivers
:Q

uh-huh

sounds really "scientific"

great another useless poll

 

[MotF Bane]

Why is that review talking about GDDR3 memory, I thought the 2900XT was using GDDR4 memory...

 

[Extelleron]

Originally posted by: MotF Bane
Why is that review talking about GDDR3 memory, I thought the 2900XT was using GDDR4 memory...

No, the HD 2900XT uses GDDR3 memory clocked at 1650MHz effective. It's 1.0ns memory though, so it's rated for 2000MHz (I believe 1.0ns = 2000MHz)

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: swtethan

Originally posted by: apoppin
and you aren't me

what does that say?


and you appear to be part of the 'exception' ... rather than the rule

find my poll, look at the results

asking nvidia GTX fans to say there are problems with their drivers
:Q

uh-huh

sounds really "scientific"

great another useless poll

damn ... it DOES appear to be useful

can you say *back-fire*
:Q

LOTs of 8800 driver issues

--and check out nvidia own forums

you ARE the exception if you have ZERO issues

sure i want to take a 'chance' .... with a $600 GPU that had crap driver support for the first 4 months of its life ... yeah it IS getting better ... it's MID-MAY! ... it launched LAST year
:thumbsdown:



NEITHER card ... for now

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: apoppin
good for you ... the 1%
:thumbsup:

STALKER runs *perfectly* - for me

Me to. Make that 2%, LOL... STALKER sure is a "purdy" game, not loving the AI and gameplay however.

And yes, the XT contends with the GTS.

 

[MadBoris]

@appoppin so at first you want to discount the poll, then if it shows some ground to your position then your willing to believe it. :roll:
You're right.

If you 're not a nvidia owner, which you are not, you really have no ground to stand on to talk about current state of Nvidia's drivers (regardless how much you read). Unless you just want to parrot the school kids.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003

Originally posted by: apoppin
good for you ... the 1%
:thumbsup:

STALKER runs *perfectly* - for me

Me to. Make that 2%, LOL... STALKER sure is a "purdy" game, not loving the AI and gameplay however.

And yes, the XT contends with the GTS.

thank-you ... we were having a little 'trouble communicating' "who" the HDXT contends with

it is a nice "match" ... imo ... and each "side" will *see* what they want to
-this is the *same* IQ discussion ... since Rage Fury32

it is like looking at Fuji and Kodak Film ... or comparing Marantz with Pioneer's [or Yamaha'] "sound" ... in the eye of the beholder

sure IQ is a little "different" ... but absolutely NO ONE can tell running two identical monitors side by side - which is which - as in PLAYING an actual game

finally do you have the PATCH ? it is pretty necessary ... although i finished without it
-- and it gets a LOT better as you progress into the STALKER world ... it is *alive* and should draw you right in ... after you get used to the frustration of the inventory and crap weapons you "learn" to aim

from what i am seeing ... it takes a GTS/GTX to power thru STALKER ... the lesser nvidia GPUs seem to struggle a bit compared to how they "should do"

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: MadBoris
@appoppin so at first you want to discount the poll, then if it shows some ground to your position then your willing to believe it. :roll:
You're right.

If you 're not a nvidia owner, which you are not, you really have no ground to stand on to talk about current state of Nvidia's drivers (regardless how much you read). Unless you just want to parrot the school kids.

OK ... what about my friends and what i SEE - actually happening - on their nvidia rigs ?

doesn't that count even though i can't go in and try and "fix" it for them?


they have a LOT more money then i do
:roll:

and more driver "issues"

personally, i think having a 7800GS *counts* 'a little' toward being [past tense] a recent "nvidia owner"

and the poll surprised the hell out of me ... MORE issues than even i thought ... from the first few "owners"
:Q

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

these IQ debates are pretty silly. I looked at the screenshots and I know that everyone here would be hardpressed to notice a difference during actual gameplay. The reviews themselves state that the differences are absolutely minimal at best.

 

[Polish3d]

Originally posted by: CaiNaM
still, despite nvidia's market superiority, the high end x18/19xx cards were clearly superior to nvidia's 7 series in both performance and image quality. even w/o the shimmering nvidia could not match ati's HQAF.

I agree. I went from 7800GTX to x1900xtx and I found better image quality, and a near doubling of performance, PARTICULARLY when minimum framerates as well as maximum framerates were taken into account. X1900xtx had much less 'swing' between the two, providing a smoother and superior experience

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: OneOfTheseDays
these IQ debates are pretty silly. I looked at the screenshots and I know that everyone here would be hardpressed to notice a difference during actual gameplay. The reviews themselves state that the differences are absolutely minimal at best.

seriously ... they are IDENTICAL to the RageFury32 vs GeForceSDR debates ... nothing has changed ...

and you said the forums were better before?
:Q

nope

i CHALLENGE anyone to set up two similar platforms - with identically calibrated LCDs and run them sided-by-side with identically configured games at identical speeds [over 100FPS]

*no one on earth* - not even the god of nvidia -could tell which GPU powered which display

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Frackal

Originally posted by: CaiNaM
still, despite nvidia's market superiority, the high end x18/19xx cards were clearly superior to nvidia's 7 series in both performance and image quality. even w/o the shimmering nvidia could not match ati's HQAF.

I agree. I went from 7800GTX to x1900xtx and I found better image quality, and a near doubling of performance, PARTICULARLY when minimum framerates as well as maximum framerates were taken into account. X1900xtx had much less 'swing' between the two, providing a smoother and superior experience

i didn't see it


x850xt > x1950P better IQ with the pro
x1950 > 7800GS OC > x1950p --toss a coin ... both beautiful IQ


--and perhaps the later drivers corrected this ... wasn't my GS in march-april?


the only difference is that my x1950p is faster ... OF COURSE it is smoother

 

[JPB]

Has anyone else noticed that in the VR-Zone review, he keeps calling it the X2900XT ? And not HD...

One would think they would know the difference.

 

[apoppin]

old habits

people keep calling it ATi :frown:

it's ...

A-M-D



Daamit !

 

[MadBoris]

Originally posted by: JPB
Has anyone else noticed that in the VR-Zone review, he keeps calling it the X2900XT ? And not HD...

old habits die hard. Maybe that is ATI's fault in waiting till last minute to rename it's parts.

 

[tuteja1986]

Originally posted by: swtethan

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: MadBoris

Originally posted by: apoppin
and nvidia driver issues are *noted elsewhere* ... nevermind how many fanboys you can get to say "no problem with nvidia drivers" in a useless poll
:roll:

Yeah, your Sapphire card makes you a real impartial judge on Nvidia drivers. :roll:

I have had an 8800 since shortly after release on XP and Vista. I've seen the growing pains first hand, they aren't as bad as all the little children at the schoolyard make it out to be. But it does seem the popular thing to complain about and sound cool at the schoolyard.

amm yeah.. you live in fantasy G80 land where no problem exsit. Well the rest of us who had problem with the nvidia drivers were going "WTF!". Vista driver are so great in your mind that all crashes are like new exciting adventure.

it's what i read ... and i read a LOT

i had a 7800GS OC and absolutely *loved* it

superb drivers ... very good IQ ... excellent price performance

all this was *noted* by "everyone else"

and when i read tech sites and reviewers that complain about nvidia drivers i tend to think the nvidiots are lying when they *no problems*

you arent me, now are you? NO problems for 2 months. actually there was a problem with the fake fog in source, but that was fixed, didnt affect my game play.

 

[dadach]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: OneOfTheseDays
these IQ debates are pretty silly. I looked at the screenshots and I know that everyone here would be hardpressed to notice a difference during actual gameplay. The reviews themselves state that the differences are absolutely minimal at best.

seriously ... they are IDENTICAL to the RageFury32 vs GeForceSDR debates ... nothing has changed ...

and you said the forums were better before?
:Q

nope

i CHALLENGE anyone to set up two similar platforms - with identically calibrated LCDs and run them sided-by-side with identically configured games at identical speeds [over 100FPS]

*no one on earth* - not even the god of nvidia -could tell which GPU powered which display

hmmm...why did i then have the impression when i went from nvidia to ati, that i have bought a new monitor? ...and i tried hard in nvidia drivers to max everything ...1st 7950gx2 was no contest, but i was surprised that i could not get 8800gts to have as good of an IQ as ati 19xx series :/ weird

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: dadach

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: OneOfTheseDays
these IQ debates are pretty silly. I looked at the screenshots and I know that everyone here would be hardpressed to notice a difference during actual gameplay. The reviews themselves state that the differences are absolutely minimal at best.

seriously ... they are IDENTICAL to the RageFury32 vs GeForceSDR debates ... nothing has changed ...

and you said the forums were better before?
:Q

nope

i CHALLENGE anyone to set up two similar platforms - with identically calibrated LCDs and run them sided-by-side with identically configured games at identical speeds [over 100FPS]

*no one on earth* - not even the god of nvidia -could tell which GPU powered which display

hmmm...why did i then have the impression when i went from nvidia to ati, that i have bought a new monitor? ...and i tried hard in nvidia drivers to max everything ...1st 7950gx2 was no contest, but i was surprised that i could not get 8800gts to have as good of an IQ as ati 19xx series :/ weird

OK ... i am not sure what you are saying

perhaps you misunderstand me

... way back ... in March ... this March '07 ... i had the experience of my first nvidia GPU ... in a long time

in the distant past [and in another galaxy ... wait ... that's the other story] i compared nvidia with ATi and found the nvidia GPUs to be faster but lacking in IQ

getting my 7800GS OC and comparing to x1950p ... i found them to be nearly identical
--both very very good

NOW ... the challenge i am making is to take a 7950 and compare to x1950xt
... running same "everything" in a GAME ... no visible difference

take the same challenge with GTS vs HDXT ...
... running same "everything" ... in a game .. no visible difference

that's is 'all' i am saying

there is no need to pull the magnifying glass out

they both look wonderful
[or so i 'guess' because i haven't seen the HDXT yet ... the GTX iq IS beautiful]

 

[v8envy]

60 watts more than an 8800GTS? Um. That's a bit on the nuts side. Considering power supplies are nowhere near 100% efficient that's quite a bit of heat being dumped by the card and the PSU.

It's pretty clear the winner here is the next generation's refresh, and those enthusiasts who bought the 8800GTS/X last year. I intend to wait until the refresh. 8500GT it is for me (hey, it should be about 6800GS level performance. I'll have to live with 10x7 and no AA for a bit) until the 65nm refresh.

As in the past ATI will probably win this generation a year from now, when everyone cares about the next generation's products.

Better luck with the R650 (680?) DAAMIT.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: v8envy
60 watts more than an 8800GTS? Um. That's a bit on the nuts side. Considering power supplies are nowhere near 100% efficient that's quite a bit of heat being dumped by the card and the PSU.

It's pretty clear the winner here is the next generation's refresh, and those enthusiasts who bought the 8800GTS/X last year. I intend to wait until the refresh. 8500GT it is for me (hey, it should be about 6800GS level performance. I'll have to live with 10x7 and no AA for a bit) until the 65nm refresh.

As in the past ATI will probably win this generation a year from now, when everyone cares about the next generation's products.

Better luck with the R650 (680?) DAAMIT.

i gotta agree ... that is it's "flaw"

and yet we see my x1950p *requiring* 450w and 30a on the 12v rail

this sucker is TWICE faster ... DX10 also ... and competes with the GTS

and ... shucks ... i was kinda 'expecting' this ... since January ... when the PS requirements leaked ...

guess what i got for xfire? ... 850w
:Q

but as to "better luck" ... i think for the price-performance you may be able to *afford* a PS upgrade

and AMD will sell a boatload or two ... it competes very nicely ... as they promised

and we ain't got to the "features" yet


maybe they should hire me

:roll:

you'd see it in my sig ... proudly

--either co.

but to say the HD-XT is a 'disappointment' is a stretch

--don't forget to mention how f'-ing late it is
:clock:

 

[Genx87]

Why do i have a feeling because Nvidia had issues with their first run drivers for Vista, they are going to be carrying that stigma for years with the ATI fanboi crowd?

We will be here in 2010 talking about how the G100 and Nvidia drivers suck for Vista.

Anyways, I have been playing games on Vista Business for 3 weeks and have no issues with the graphics drivers. The one issue I am running into is in COH and it is an application issue.

Anyways, this card is out, from the review I read, this looks like ATI\AMD's NV30. Late to the party for a new DX10 gen chip, not impressive performance wise, big, hot, and consumes power like a factory.

But at least it is out, and we can all start to move forward with realizing certain companies arent infallible. Personally I am wondering how much AMD got conned by the ATI execs. They knew of the performance expectations\issues with the R600 a year ago and their economic expectations as well, yet somehow got AMD to sign off on it.